Joselu Mato · Biography

José Luis Mato Sanmartin was born on March 27, 1990 in Stuttgart, where he took his first steps and attended school until the age of four, when his family decided to return to Galicia. Back in Spain, his interest in soccer grew and he soon joined the youth teams of S.D. Silleda, a club belonging to the province of Pontevedra, where he kicked a ball for the first time. Despite his young age, Joselu's talent began to dazzle others, which caught the attention of Celta Vigo, who did not hesitate to bet on the future of the striker when he was only 13 years old. He was climbing through the lower categories of the Galician club, being year after year one of the most promising players of the Vigo quarry. Accompanied by players like Hugo Mallo, he led the youth team to be runner-up in the Cup, but it was not until the U-19 European Championship that he became known in Spanish soccer. Under Luis Milla, he stood out in his debut against Turkey, scoring the second goal in the victory of the Spanish team.

Debut came

In November 2007, when he was only 17 years old, the then Celtic coach Hristo Stoichkov gave him the opportunity to make his debut with the first team in a friendly match against Porriño Industrial, a club from the province of Pontevedra. However, his debut in an official match with Celta would have to wait until 2009, with Eusebio Sacristán in the Celtic bench. Joselu went from playing in the División de Honor youth team to making his debut with the first team of the club of his life in the same season. It is true that his debut was not the dream, as Celta was defeated and the abyss of the Second Division B looked closer and closer. Despite the defeat, from that May 9th, Eusebio would continue to count on the player in the last matches of the League, entering in several calls, but with few minutes in the matches. The savior that season would be another player from the reserve team, a certain Iago Aspas, who scored a double against Alavés to seal his team's permanence.

Joselu seemed to establish himself in the first team, so when Eusebio decided to take him that same summer to the team's training camp in Melgaço, the club did not hesitate to sign him to a professional contract that would tie him to Celta until 2013. No more and no less than ten million euros, that was the amount that was assigned as a clause to, at that time, one of the pearls of the Galician quarry. The player from Stuttgart had achieved his goal, signing a professional contract with the club of his love, but now came the hardest part, to stay and make a place in the starting eleven. Well, to everyone's surprise, the 19-year-old started to be present in Celta's starting lineup, becoming the great hope of fans who dreamed of seeing their team back in the first division.

Change of scenery

Joselu grew as a footballer, and with him, his fame and the interest of big clubs like Real Madrid or Barcelona, who soon approached the headquarters of Vigo to inquire about the situation of the striker. There were also rumors coming from Italy, especially about Inter Milan. However, it seemed that there was one man better positioned than anyone else: Ramón Martínez. The former director of the Real Madrid youth academy, bet heavily on the purchase of Joselu. The player himself made a statement to the media denying that there had been any contact with the capital club, but only a week after those statements, the sale of the striker to the Merengue team became official. Joselu himself described his signing as "the fulfillment of a great dream". The signing was closed in exchange for 1.5 million euros, in addition to a series of clauses whereby Celta would take a certain percentage for a possible subsequent sale of the player. Joselu was already officially a Real Madrid player, but due to his young age and his limited experience in professional soccer, the white club decided to agree with Celta that he would continue wearing the Celtic shirt for one more year on loan.

Undoubtedly, that last year in Vigo was one of the worst in Joselu's career. The fans no longer supported him, he was no longer the idol or the pride of a city that had turned its back on one of its pearls of the quarry, and as if that were not enough, he soon suffered a serious injury that left him out of the team. a tough injury that kept him out of the field of play for just over a month, which prevented him from attending the U-20 World Cup, where he was expected to be one of the stars of the Spanish national team. Four goals in 24 games was all he brought to his team in his final season in Vigo. His performance had plummeted and despite the continuity available to him due to the lack of competition, there was not even a hint of the quality he had shown prior to his move to Real Madrid. In fact, by the end of the season Joselu was far from having the confidence of Eusebio, who stopped calling him up for matches.

Already in the summer of 2010, he started his way to Madrid, where he made several preseason sessions with the Stage of the Portuguese José Mourinho, but the coach himself announced that he would not take him with the rest of the team to his tour of the United States.The player declared that his adaptation was not being easy, mainly because of the change of city and the first months were quite hard for him. The 2010-2011 season he played as a member of Real Madrid Castilla in the Second Division B, helping his team to qualify for promotion to the second division, but they did not achieve their goal when they lost to CD Alcoyano. Despite having that frustrating end to the season, Joselu himself remembers that year with great affection, as it meant his debut in the First Division with the Real Madrid shirt. On May 21, 2011, José Mourinho gave him the opportunity to play the last five minutes of the match against UD Almería, in which he replaced Karim Benzema and scored the eighth goal of the white victory.

Return to the origins

In the 2011-2012 season, Joselu played in the Second Division B with Real Madrid Castilla while alternating Copa del Rey matches and even some Liga matches in the last part of the season with the first team. The Galician player did not end up making a place in José Mourinho's plans and at the end of that same season, he left the white club and returned to the country where he was born and where he lived for the first four years of his life, Germany. It was Hoffenheim who put their faith in the 22-year-old striker from Real Madrid's youth academy in exchange for six million euros.

Back in Germany, it didn 't take him long to make a place in Hoffenheim's starting eleven, but his numbers were not as good as expected. In 25 games played in the Bundesliga, Joselu scored a meager five goals and only contributed two assists to his teammates' goals. The poor performance of his new signing led the German club to accept a loan offer from direct rivals Eintracht Frankfurt. His scoring average with 'Die Adler' was not much better, 9 goals in 24 games were not enough for the club to present a purchase offer for Joselu. The Galician was still not in Hoffenheim's plans either, as the presence of Kevin Volland and a young Roberto Firmino at the front of the attack, revoked in the background a Joselu who did not miss the call of Hannover 96, again a German club that put on the table 5 million euros to get his services.

In Hannover he played only the 2014-2015 season, and although his year was not all bad, with the call of Stoke City he considered that his journey in Germany was over and launched a new adventure: the Premier League. The change was not easy, different country, a different league with a rhythm and style of play completely different from what he was used to and of course... another language. Desperation gradually consumed Joselu, who saw that he did not fit in the style of play of the 'Potters', to the point that he accepted a loan offer from the eternal rival of his lifelong team, RC Deportivo, where he played a season without glory.

The years passed and the pearl that dazzled in the Celta youth academy and later in Real Madrid Castilla was fading, so Stoke City did not waste the offer of almost 6 million euros that Newcastle made for him. The then coach of the Magpies, Steve Bruce, trusted him and gave him the continuity he needed. In his first year in the north-east of England, he played 30 of the 38 Premier League matches, putting in great performances at St Jame's Park. Quite the opposite would happen a year later, when the signing of former La Liga player Salomon Rondon took the Vigo youth player out of the starting eleven, who was forced to look for a way out.

A glorious decision

He found his way out at Deportivo Alavés. Although Joselu was initially reluctant to join Deportivo Alaves, the Babazorros managed to convince him thanks to their new project. The new project included names such as John Guidetti, Aleix Vidal, Oliver Burke and, of course, Lucas Perez. Together with the latter, the two Galicians form one of the fashionable pairs of our league, adding up to date the spectacular figure of 20 goals between them. Asier Garitano has full confidence in his striker, and there is no doubt that Joselu and Lucas Pérez have recovered their best level this year. As a result, Deportivo Alavés are in a comfortable position, seven points above the relegation zone and their fans are eager to celebrate the goals of this lethal duo at Mendizorroza.

National team

Joselu Mato has been an international with the lower categories of the Spanish national team, as well as a regular in the call-ups of the U-18, U-19 and U-21, scoring 3 goals with the U-19 and one with the U-21. The player was also open to the possibility that the German national team might decide to select him. However, he has also admitted to feeling Spanish. Accordingly, and in the context of national teams, he has also played minutes with the Galician national team against Venezuela in a friendly match held in Riazor.

Biography by Mikel Calderón.